Reditus, or: Return (Canon Divergent)
by randomwriter413
Summary: In which a Diamond rescues a squadron of Rubies, and things take a turn for the worse for Steven and friends.
1. Prologue

Space.

It's cold, it's distant, and it lacks oxygen, an important component in the biology of most organics. For instance, humans.

Earth.

Earth is the planet she and her squadron were sent to. It has one satelite, with a Diamond Command Outpost from the previous attempt at conquest and terraformation. They call the satelite their moon.

It's what Doc and her squadron of Rubies are orbiting, though Eyeball's a little ways off.

None of them can speak. None of them can say anything due to the lack of oxygen.

But, they don't require it. Because, after all, they aren't organics.

 _They're gems._

And they're going to complete their mission, no matter what circumstances the Crystal Gems toss at them.

So, she types a report on her goggles. A report on the Crystal Gems, which gets her distress signal bumped up to Moderate Priority. Then, she types about Rose Quartz, which bumps it up to High Priority.

Finally, she types a single bit about **PINK DIAMON-**

Her message is bumped up to Priority One. Rescue is imminent.

Or at least, it seems to be.

This is the beginning of many endings, and the ending of many beginnings.


	2. Message recieved

The planet below had a resistance, a people, willing to fight and die for their home, with technology that'd make humanity gasp in a collective **"OOOH!"** before each and every world leader relied on the ancient laws of 'dibs.'

None of that mattered, as Yellow Diamond's ship descended, drills primed, lasers armed, and guarded by a fleet that would cause said world leaders to go " **Alright, you can keep that garbage."**

Not that she needed the fleet to flank her ship, of course. Rose had simply gotten lucky before. A mistake she would regret, were she still intact. Yellow Diamond sighed, as the ship began it's customary drilling, docking into the ground, and launching the terraformation signal. As she had instructed, thankfully, there were no Peridots to inform her of the drills and their status. That delegation went to her Pearl, this time. Yellow Diamond held grudges for eons.

The current grudge being at a 'child' of her's. She had been built specifically for the purpose of checking on 'it.' A lovely work of art that would turn the Crystal Gems and their 'victory' to nothing. But, Peridot, Facet whatsherfacet, had actually dared to question her. She had dared to request that they simply try the previous idea of colonization.

Did she really think that was the first time someone had asked Yellow Diamond about the Cluster? Everyone questioned it, who was in the know. Blue Diamond had simply chuckled, and muttered about her being headstrong, White Diamond had, as usual, sent a short, brief message on not letting her emotions control her...Yet, they too had reacted to the loss of Pink Diamond. Of course, Blue Diamond simply suggested they flood the earth, while White Diamond may have actually _agreed with that Peridot_ , though she'd be more polite. And, well, reasonable.

So, as she watched the token resistance getting slaughtered by lasers, and her own troops, surging out with glee, utterly happy to be getting a piece of the action, she turned her gaze away from the monitor in her throne room, to notice a single, other figure, much more tiny and skinnier. Yellow could pick her up in her hand, and crush her with ease, as her Pearl knew. More importantly, she knew _Yellow Diamond wasn't in the mood for any interruptions for a bit due to her brooding on certain events, so this had better be important._ Yellow Diamond grimaced, as she looked down at her Pearl.

"What is it?" She asked, in a tone that could cut through a glacier, as her Pearl, whom we shall call Yellow Pearl, for the simple fact that even Yellow can barely memorize facet numbers without looking them up on her screen, trembled.

"M-my diamond." Yellow Pearl spoke, with an expression of slight terror. "I know you didn't want any interruptions, but, er, there's a priority message labeled for Diamond Level Priority only, and I though-" Yellow Pearl flinched, reflexively, as Yellow Diamond stood, giving a slight look of sternness.

"When was the message sent?" She asked, as her Pearl stammered out something, too quiet to hear.

" **SPEAK LOUDER."** Yellow Diamond spoke, in a volume that'd make any of the gems outside her throne room tremble. Actually, a few Peridots did, before increasing the speed of the drills.

"A f-few Earth-time hours ago." Yellow Pearl shrieked, in a raspy, high pitched voice.

Yellow Diamond took a step. Then another, approaching her Pearl. Running would do nothing. Fighting? Please. She couldn't hurt a Diamond, let alone her Diamond, who was _picking her up an-_

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention." Yellow Diamond stated, in a suddenly polite, charismatic tone, as she patted her Pearl on the head, before putting her down. "You may delegate the Peridots to another person, or allow them into the command room, now. I will be sure to look over it as soon as possible. Enjoy the day." Yellow Pearl froze, as Yellow Diamond glanced at her.

"Will that be all?"

Yellow Pearl stammered, before acknowledging with a quick thanks, a bow, and then, back she went to her desk, with a sigh. Wasn't her job the best? Even though, Pearl thought, it was difficult.

Yellow Diamond, meanwhile, simply watched her leave as the Peridots entered, setting up as much equipment as possible, and no doubt wondering exactly why they hadn't been in here before. It took all of her energy to not lose her cool, as she tapped her monitor, and retook her seat. The resistance had been utterly eradicated, with zero shattered gems. Now, as for the message...

Words like: Rose Quartz, and Crystal Gems, and Pink Diamond filled her thoughts, as she looked at 'Doc's' report. Apparently, Rose had seen fit to name them, and they had taken it in stride.

They hadn't found Jasper, sadly. _Were she_ at the helm of Yellow Diamond's forces, resisting races wouldn't even last a day, instead of the near week that this planet's forces had been holding out to against the scouting forces.

More importantly...They were stranded, Rose Quartz was alive, and a gem who claimed to be the _leader of the Crystal Gems was..._

Yellow Diamond froze, as she looked over that tidbit of information.

"Excellent news, my Diamond!" A single Peridot stated- They all had _her face._ That particular Peridot continued to ramble about how they'd reached a perfect descent, and how they'd gladly get to work on setting up the terraformation...

It took all of the effort she had to say a single, kind word. "Splendid." She said, as they began to exit.

Her Rubies were stranded. She was going to send someone to get them back. They had more than one mission, now.

She paused, as an afterthought, and pressed a single button on her chair, opening communications to Yellow Pearl's small area outside the throne room.

"Pearl, could you help me out, for a second? I need your assistance."


	3. Ruby Rescue, PT One!

Approaching the Earth was easy, thanks to the gravity engine on Yellow Diamond's ship, a massive golden arm, hand curled into a fist. Finding the Rubies, on the other hand, was much more difficult, due to both their small size, and several tons of space junk. The humans were very sloppy when it came to interstellar travel. Not that Yellow Diamond knew about that, of course. That'd imply she had been observing the planet she had hated with a passion that outshone even the other diamonds's hatred for it.

Pink hadn't deserved what Rose did to her. Well, on second thought, from Rose's twisted mindset, maybe she did. Yellow hated brooding on that, of course. So, she reclined, and thought back to the day that she had first 'birthed' the Rubies. Through a Kindergarten, of course. Not like humans. Definetly not like those.

'Eyeball' had been constructed first, as a liason to Pink. Even a few days after she was born, she was smart, she was obidient, and she was obsessed with completing her goals, in exchange for praise. Somehow, she'd managed to survive the end of the first war, and returned to her 'mother'. Her diamond, her creator... But, she was never the same. Eyeball was more impulsive, more brutal, more stubborn when it came to working with others. She was similar to Jasper, except much less durable. Naturally, Yellow only sent her on missions she felt that the Ruby would appreciate, and almost never gave her a break. Eyeball did not react well to inactivity.

'Doc', meanwhile, was the most level headed Ruby that Yellow could create. Though she wasn't the brightest, she was loyal, she was dedicated to keeping gems under her command intact, though that was a little too sentimental for Yellow, honestly. So, 'Doc' had been appointed over 'Eyeball', mainly for her team-oriented focus. Though 'Eyeball' had much more intellect, she was also a bit of a loner, which, honestly did not go good for anyone whom was placed under her command.

Next up was 'Army'. Origionally, Yellow had simply thought of that Ruby as common foot solider material. Yet, she was utterly loyal, and suicidal to a fault when it came to confronting enemies. How she hadn't been wiped out by the opposing alien forces she'd been pitted against was a mystery, but, into the squad she had gone.

Then, the final two, however, were the biggest oddities. 'Navy' was somehow capable of finding joy in everything, and was honestly not oriented to the rough, millitary lifestyle that was expected of most Rubies. She was calm, she was peaceful, and she was polite. Yet, she was somehow able to calm down Eyeball during one of her tantrums. Noting this, Doc added her to the squad without informing Yellow herself, but, it seemed to have worked out.

'Leggy', meanwhile, is still technically a newborn. Created a single day before the mission, fresh out of orientation, and very, very forgetful, to the point of asking several people the same question. Yellow sighed, before her eyes opened wide, as something clanged against the screen-

A small, red humanoid, with a grin on her face and a yellow visor on her eyes. 'Doc.' Doc herself began to hurriedly wave, and speak, and continued to be oblivious to the fact that Yellow could not hear her. After a few minutes of simple staring, she tapped a single icon. "Pearl, we've found one. Mind sending a few Amethysts out in recovery gear?" She asked, as Doc finally stopped, and smiled.

One down. Four to go.

 _CLANG._

Two dow-

 _CLANG._

 _CLANG._

 _CLANG._

Well, four out of five. Eyeball was the odd one out.


	4. Barnyard Buds

As a massive arm continued to drift above, in space, unseen by most denizens of Earth, though the few who did barely expected it, the day began, for Beach City and all of its residents. Mr Fryman shouted at his boys, waking them up early for the work day, even though most of their fry related products were sold in the afternoon. The Pizzas awoke, the Cream family awoke, and so forth.

Peridot, however, wasn't exactly the most caring of the humans and their routines. Sure, Steven qualified as part human, but he also qualified as part gem, she thought, as she herself noted the usual hurrying and scurrying that was Beach City, from the comfort of the barn. Lapis was 'around', which was code for 'relaxing/dealing with previous trauma and keeping her distance for a few moments.' But, she usually snapped out of it. Solitude was the best medicine, sometimes, at least. Oddly enough, the incident with Jasper hadn't calmed her down. She'd be sure to ask Garnet about it. While Pearl did try her best, and Amethyst always had a 'helpful' way of assisting, when she wasn't dealing with her own insecurities, Garnet was the most level headed, even if only as a fusion.

But, Lapis rarely talked to the other Crystal Gems, to be honest. Steven, on the other hand, was a fellow asset. Someone who could chat with Lapis for hours, and not risk being put into a crushing bubble of water. Peridot sighed, as she flopped to the ground, looking up at the clouds.

One looked like...A cloud. Another also looked like a cloud. She didn't really understand cloud watching. Or stargazing, unless it was at Homeworld, and its resident galaxy. But, it was 'relaxing.' So, she laid there for what felt like days, though it was approximately only one hour, two minutes, and thirty seconds, before she heard the familiar flap of wings.

"Hey, Lapis!" Peridot said, as she hopped to her feet, with a smile that quickly changed to a short look of panic, as she fell to the ground. Maybe she should have slowly gotten up, instead of doing things the quick, somewhat painful way.

This, then, is Peridot. Over confident, clumsy, durable, intelligent when it comes to technology, and an unironic fan of Camp Pining Hearts, to the point of buying most official merchandise, and getting banned from several conventions. Formerly a Homeworld technician, and currently a Crystal Gem.

* * *

 _"Let's be Malachite again." The orange, incredibly strong, incredibly unstable gem stated, as she extended a hand, towards Lapis. She hadn't known what to think. Here was someone she had captured, someone she had tortured, someone she had used to vent all of her repressed rage, which she had kept in for hundreds, nay, thousands of years._

And they wanted to go through it again.

Lapis awoke, slightly shivering, as she looked around. She was still on the silo. She was still here. A sigh, partially of relief, and partially of exhaustion exited, as she got to her feet. Dreams were horrible, as usual. Horribly recurring, and, nightmares, according to Steven. He seemed to have a better handle on things. Meanwhile, her 'roommate', as Peridot was referred to, was lying down on the ground, staring at the sky, yet again.

Her wings extended from her back, and down she went, expression shifting into a smile. "Morning." She stated, as Peridot jumped to her feet, hurriedly rushing out a greeting before falling flat on her face. Lapis simply chuckled, and extended a hand. "So, what are we doing today?"

Peridot eventually, after muttering a mental note aloud, took the hand, and stood. "Well, I'm glad you asked! I've managed to construct a daily planner of 'fun' activities." Peridot twitched, as she said the word fun.

"Peridot, are you suggesting..." Lapis froze, her eyes widening like that of a deer in the headlights of an out of control escape pod piloted by a screaming homeworld technician.

"SEASON FIVE, LAPIS." Peridot replied, as she herself motioned to the barn. "I understand that it is most likely the worst of the seasons. I understand that they spend twelve episodes on a beach instead of at the actual campsite. I understand that Paulette is given more attention than anyone in the series, to the point where the entire show collapses into a gravitational singularity revolving around her. I UNDERSTAND-" Lapis placed a hand over Peridot's mouth.

"Is this because of the volleyball episode where Percy manages to knock the ball into orbit?" Lapis asked, with a slightly interrogative gaze, to which Peridot would sigh, and nod. "How about, instead, we just watch human television for a bit. There has to be some other form of art as good as Camp Pining Hearts. There has to." Lapis stated, with the most serious expression she could muster.

This is Lapis Lazuli. A gem, far from home, with no ties to any of the Crystal Gems. Besides Steven, of course. He healed her gem itself. He gave her reasons to stay, reasons to avoid becoming...

Sometimes, though, even though her gem's fixed, she still feels cracks. Some are only skin deep, jokes, insensitive comments her roommate doesn't actually mean, but some...

 _Some are the types of cracks that not even Steven can heal. They fade, they vanish, but then, they come back. Or they never left to begin with. They're there. And no matter how much she tries, she's never going to get rid of those cracks._

But, because she is Lapis Lazuli, she takes it, with as much willpower as she can muster. Because she's Lapis, she doesn't stop for a moment to ponder it. She keeps going, and she keeps going, and she can't stop for a second.

She's afraid that if she does, it'll be the end of her all over again.

A shrill shriek cut through the air, as Lapis snapped out of her slight trance, Peridot motioning to the television, with eyes that spoke of terror. Of fear. Of heartbreak.

On the monitor itself, Percy fell through the floor, except it wasn't Percy. It looked like him, but the name was different- Same actor, Lapis realized, as she hurriedly changed the channel to a show about a talking spoon, and several talking pieces of breakfast, crying over a milk carton.

As soon as the storm had began, so it had ended.


	5. Ruby Rescue, PT 2

Above the planet Earth, a single, massive saucer floated. Inside it, the leader of a mavolent race of snake people grinned, resting in his personal chamber, as he lazily tapped his communicator. "Are the final stages of Project OPHIDIAN near completion?" He asked, as a distorted voice began to reply. _"Affirmative. The cylinders we have discovered are at eighty five percent efficiency. As soon as we have them fully online, we ca-"_ A siren blared, cutting him off, as the leader hurriedly flipped channels to one of the intercoms, specifically, one in the bridge.

"What's going-" He began to ask, before the saucer was torn apart.

If the force of the gravitational distortion hadn't killed them all, the giant, golden fist connected to an arm warping out of the distortion, tearing through what was left, did.

Aboard the giant, golden arm, meanwhile, Yellow Diamond, sitting in her own command chair on the bridge, sighed. "Well, great, now you've brought us into even more pointless debri." It was not a good day to be piloting the ship, one of the many Peridots in control of the arm's numerous functions noted, as the Peridot manning the gravity engine trembled. Yellow Diamond, was not in a good mood, when it came to them today. _Just keep your head down, relax, and most certainly, don't mess up._ They thought, as Yellow herself brought up a screen.

"Agate. Report." She said, with as little attention to them as possible. She wasn't even looking at the screen.

"My diamond, my most gracious-" The yellow tinged Agate began to say, before freezing, as Yellow's head tilted, giving the Agate a very, very stony glare. "We've found the Ruby you ordered us to search for, in the nearby asteroid fields." She'd hurriedly finish, as Yellow Diamond's formerly cold, and callous look evaporated, a smile donning on her face. "Excellent. Return to the ship at once. My Pearl will take the rest from there." The Agate herself nodded, and, before they could say anything about themself being up to the task, Yellow shut down the communication, before bringing up another one. "Order all of the Roaming Eyes to return to the ship. Inform them that the mission is accomplished." Then, she closed the transmission, and reclined, as another Agate transmitted the order.

Hours ago, the rescue effort had been much less...simple, to put it lightly, as a six gem squadron of Amethyst Quartzes in retrieval gear had found out, when going to retrieve the four rubies attempting to cling to the arm. On the plus side, the two who had been set as backup did excellently where their two predecessors had failed, managing to avoid several asteroids, before grabbing 'Doc' and 'Leggy'. Yellow wasn't entirely sure how to feel about the names Rose had given them, but it did make it easier than having to search up their facet names on one of her many screens.

As soon as all of the possible trajectories were calculated from the Diamond Lunar Outpost, she'd comissioned Roaming Eyes to comb every single one of them. They were, after all, _her rubies._ The standard search groups were selected. One Peridot, one Amethyst or Jasper Quartz, one to two Rubies, and occasionally, an Agate, to keep the group in line. Then, off they went, searching and hunting until they either found their quarry, or something else of value to report back. Yellow Diamond recalled, as she tapped her chair.

More importantly, why weren't her Rubies on the bridge, yet? She had given her Pearl specific instructions on bringing them to her for a quick debriefing, and to recieve new orders.

It shouldn't have been too much trouble, should it?


	6. Regrouping

Below, in one of the many hangar bays, things were _not going fine_ for Yellow Pearl. Namely because the Rubies refused to go to her Diamond's briefing. The commander, known as 'Doc', according to the designation her Diamond had graciously informed her with, refused to leave until the other two rubies in her squadron ha-

"You forgot to count yourself." She'd mutter, as Doc thought about it for a moment, before sheepishly grinning. Rubies.

"Well, we're still not going without Eyeball!" Doc stated, redundantly, as two of the three rubies behind her nodded. 'Army' and 'Navy'. The third, known as 'Leggy', raised a hand, in questioning, no doubt. "Er, are we allowed to say no to Yellow Diamond?" They asked, while trembling. An excellent oppurtunity, Yellow Pearl thought, as a shrewd grin momentarily appeared on her face. "No, you're not allowed to deny an _official request from one of the three gem maitriarchs. Any mor-"_

A hand was raised, from Doc herself, a stern glare on her own face. "Don't you mean the _three remaining gem maitriarchs?"_ The entire hangar bay, formerly filled with the noises of troops, technicians, and pilots, fell mostly silent, besides the hum of some engines, as Yellow Pearl herself froze.

"How do you know abou-" Before the rest of her question could be answered, the hangar bay opened, as the first Roaming Eye, Eyeball inside, no doubt, flew in at a slow, leisurely pace. Standard proceedure stated that the sucessful Roaming Eye was to return first, when many were deployed.

Yellow Pearl had wondered on the trip why a single squadron of Rubies could be so important to her Diamond. Now, she had a single piece of the puzzle. Though it wasn't like Yellow Diamond to keep around relics of 'her'.

As the Roaming Eye completed its own descent, the hangar bay shields keeping gems from being sucked out into a temporary vaccum, she stopped, as the rubies, starting with Army, and eventually ending with Leggy, saluted. For a moment, she was glad to see they were finally treating her with the _respect she deserved_ , until she heard the oddly quiet noise of clanking footsteps behind her. _Familiar footsteps._

"M-my Diamond." She stated, as she hurriedly turned, as Yellow Diamond looked, oddly enough, not at her, but at Doc, as her mouth began to move. "Doc." She stated, with a tone as hard as iron, before her voice went into a softer tone. "Had my Pearl not been clear in her instructions to meet me on the bridge?" She asked, as Yellow Pearl herself attempted to resist the urge to speak up. As much as she loved informing her Diamond of insubordinate behavior, her Diamond _did not allow speaking out of turn._ She had learned that early, though she loved her new form now. So what if she had to be 'poofed' for disobidience?

"My Diamond, you instructed ALL of us to report to you on the bridge." Doc replied, as she saluted. "Eyeball wasn't on board, so I decided that we should wait for her." " _You decided?"_ thought Yellow Pearl, as she awaited her Diamond's natural response, which would likely be to poof such a disobident, insolent Ruby.

She wasn't expecting her Diamond to chuckle, as she picked up Doc in the palm of her hand. "Well, I suppose my order did sound similar to that. Has Eyeball left the ship yet?" As if on cue, the Roaming Eye opened, revealing...a yellow tinged Agate, attempting to stay in front of a Ruby with a gem for one of her eyes.

"My Diamond, as ordered, I have foun-" That was as far as the Agate made it, before being shoved aside by Eyeball, whom was already speeding down the ramp. "ROSE!" Eyeball exclaimed, as she began to hurriedly and rather irritatingly, begin to ramble on something called a Steven, and bubbles, and the moon outpost... Yellow Pearl didn't care for it. However, her Diamond reached over, Doc still in that hand, and scooped up Eyeball and the others, as she joined the group.

"Pearl, I'll be going to my personal command center." Yellow Diamond stated, as she pointed with her other hand. "Inform the Agate who discovered Eyeball to temporarily share command with you. Understand?" To this, her Pearl would nod.

"That will be all." Her Diamond stated, as she began to exit, not even giving her a secondary glance. It was clearly a public dismissal. So, as the hangar bay began to fill up with noise again, mostly talk about her Diamond, she approached the Agate, and gave a nod.

To the bridge they went.


End file.
